Conscious Dreaming
by thosedarndursleys
Summary: "The writer by the nature of his profession is a dreamer and a conscious dreamer." - Carson McCullers (A collection of one shots/drabbles about various characters and pairings)
1. Studying

Studying

It was official. Sirius Black was going to go insane.

He pushed back the heavy tome from his place mat and rested his head on the cotton surface.

"Mooooony, why are we doing this?"

Remus tore his gaze from his own textbook, his eyes struggling to focus on the shaggy hair across from him.

"Doing what?"

"This! Studying!" Sirius' arm flailed with his frustration. "We graduated over a month ago! And it's the summer hols! Why can't you just give it a rest?"

"Sirius, this is important-"

"_Important_? Remus, when am I ever going to need to know anything about Linguistics?"

Remus opened his mouth before hesitating and closing it once more. After a moment, he tried again.

"Well, I'm not sure, exactly, but it's a valid subject to learn, Sirius, especially when it comes to future jobs. That's why I'm brushing up on it." At Sirius' raised brow, Remus shook his head. "Will it really kill you to just read over the introductory chapters?"

"Yes," Sirius huffed before rushing to his own defense. "Is it really that hard to believe?"

Remus shook his head in exasperation before allowing a smirk to grace his features.

"If you read with me for another half hour, I'll play Quidditch with you."

Sirius' eyes lit up.

"Deal."

Silence descended upon the kitchen for the following minutes, Remus flipping pages at a moderate speed and Sirius staring blankly at the tiny font. It didn't take long for an idea to strike.

Sirius spent the next fifteen of his required thirty minutes tearing pages out of his muggle notebook and folding them into tiny triangles. When he had an adequate pile, he systematically lined them up, ignoring the dirty glares from across the table. When his border was complete, he drew his wand. With a single flick, each projectile flew toward Remus, peppering both him and his book.

Remus sucked on his teeth for a moment before returning his focus to the text. Less than a minute later, a final triangle arched through the air and hit him square in the forehead. When it fell to his lap, he saw a tiny, animated fish waving at him cheekily. The werewolf sighed and pushed back his own book. Sirius sat across from him with a hopeful grin.

"Fine, you win. I'm done."

Sirius raised his brows and Remus rolled his eyes. Silence descended for a split second before Sirius took the opportunity.

"So... Quidditch?"

* * *

**A/N:** Thank you for reading! If you have a spare moment, please leave a review or shoot me a PM with any comments or criticisms :)

**A/N 2:** On a more official note, this was written for the Hogwarts Houses Challenges forum. My chosen prompts were "fish (word)" for the Quidditch Pitch and "Is it really that hard to believe? (dialogue)" for the Drabble Club. I'm a member of Hufflepuff.


	2. Lucky

Lucky

Ginny smiled as the sound of hopping feet echoed through the flat. She was sitting on Harry's couch, flipping through his tattered copy of _Quidditch Through the Ages_ and enjoying the smells that wafted from the kitchen in the next room.

Harry had invited her over to spend the evening with himself and Teddy, since Andromeda had gone out for the evening, and Ginny had gladly accepted. She had known Harry for a great portion of her life, but the side of him that she saw when he was with Teddy was entirely new. Gone was the reckless, headstrong boy who lived for Quidditch and dates with Ginny. With Teddy, Harry was simply a loving man whose only desire was to treasure the little boy in front of him.

Harry's head peeked into the living room and raised a brow at the redhead on the couch.

"What're you smiling about?"

Ginny's grin grew. "You."

"Well then," Harry smiled cheekily and crossed the room. "If that's how you feel." He leaned down to peck Ginny on the lips before straightening with a wink. "Teddy," he called toward the hallway. "C'mere, mate."

The rhythmed _thumps_ grew louder, increasing in pace as the little brunette hopped into the room.

"What?" he asked, jumping in place. His energy, in Ginny's opinion, was unmatched.

"Why don't you go get that surprise we were working on?"

Teddy's eyes lit up; he turned on his heel and hopped back toward his bedroom. When he returned, he was clutching a sculpted mound of clay in his hands. It was bright yellow and obviously a joint effort between Harry and himself.

"Ginny!" The boy gave a joyful squealed as he hopped across the room. "Look what we—"

And then it happened.

As often does with four-year-olds, Teddy's foot slipped from underneath of him during a dismount. He redirected his fall, landing on his bottom, but dropped the artwork from his grasp. It hit the floor with a dull _thud_, leaving the boy to stare at it, teary-eyed.

Ginny sighed with sympathy. Teddy was at that age—no matter how careful he was, something in his possession was always in imminent danger.

Harry was poised at the edge of his seat, waiting to take his cue from Teddy on how upset the boy was going to be.

_Very_ upset, it seemed, as Teddy suddenly burst into noisy tears.

"Oh, Ted," Harry said, getting up from his chair and joining the boy on the floor. "It's alright, mate. It's just a thing."

"B-b-but it-it was G-Ginny's _present_!" The boy was positively wailing now. Harry lifted him to his lap, and began whispering in his ear.

"It's alright, Teddy," Ginny could hear his muttering. "Accidents happen. We can fix it."

Gradually, Teddy's sobs reduced to hiccups, which slowed to sniffles. Ginny leaned down in her seat to try to catch the boy's gaze.

"Teddy," she called softly. "May I see the present? I'm sure it's lovely."

"N-no," the boy shook his head. "It's ruined."

"Oh, I doubt that, love," she smiled. "Bring it to me."

Receiving an encouraging nod from Harry, Teddy stood to his feet and picked up the pieces of clay. Once the three large lumps were in his palms, he shuffled over to the couch and presented them to the woman who sat there.

"Oh _Teddy_," Ginny breathed. "Are these goal posts?"

Teddy hiccupped and nodded.

"T-they were before I dropped them." Tears came to his eyes once more.

"Oh, dear." Ginny cooed, setting down the posts and grasping underneath the boy's arms to lift him to her lap. "I love them, just as they are. I can tell you put a lot of work into them."

"U-uncle Harry helped," Teddy sniffed.

"Well," Ginny said with a smile. "You two are very talented."

Teddy looked up at that and caught Ginny's eye. She sent him a grin, which he timidly returned.

Harry stood from the floor and took the two steps toward his loved ones. Sitting on the couch, he leaned over to kiss Teddy's forehead and then Ginny's lips.

"And very, very lucky," he said with a smile.

* * *

**A/N: **Thank you for taking the time to read my story! I really appreciate any feedback I get, so if you have a spare moment, please feel free to leave a review or shoot me a PM :)

**A/N: **On a more official note, this was written for the Hogwarts Houses Challenges forum. My chosen prompts were "joyful (word)" for the Quidditch Pitch and "Bring it to me. (Dialogue)" for the Drabble Club. I'm a member of Hufflepuff.


	3. The Lonely Sock

**The Lonely Sock**

Remus picked up a basket of unfolded laundry on his way down the hallway. He could hear Harry in the other room, all coos and shrieks as he sat on his playmat, assaulting one of James' collectable Quidditch figurines.

"You having fun there, Harry?" Remus chuckled as he settled onto the floor beside him. He had finally convinced Lily to let him take Harry for the night, allowing the young couple their first real evening out since Harry was born. He shook his head at the picture of James dragging her away from Remus' front door, promising her that they'd be "just fine, love."

Harry launched the miniature chaser into the basket, letting out a shriek and pulling Remus' thoughts back to the laundry in front of him.

"Is that your offer to help, then?"

Harry cooed once more, stretching his tiny arm toward the basket. Remus reached in to retrieve a lonely sock, passing it to the boy before grabbing a t-shirt to smooth out.

The two worked in silence for the following minutes, at least on Remus' part. Harry gurgled and shrieked as he tore at the sock, eventually managing to toss it on the far side of the blanket.

"Uh-oh," Remus chanted with too much ease for his own comfort. He leaned forward to retrieve the escaped article of clothing, but only made it half-way before straightening in awe.

Just after Remus had moved to help, the sock leaped upward, balancing on its toe. It skipped through the air and into Harry's outstretched hands, who let out a squeal of delight and began chewing on it once more.

"Well I'll be damned," Remus smiled, reaching out to ruffle the boy's hair. He turned back to his work only to be stopped a second later.

"Beedamned!" a tiny voice shrieked before letting out a laugh.

Remus' heart stopped. He dropped his own pair of socks onto the floor with a sigh.

Lily was going to kill him.


End file.
